


Soon

by watermelonriddles



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22930063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watermelonriddles/pseuds/watermelonriddles
Summary: Luckily, the rain hasn’t gotten too heavy yet but it’s windy and the two of them are shivering slightly. Rhea takes off her coat and Beth helps Marcus to remove his then hangs both of them up while they remove their shoes. Almost immediately after they’re done, Marcus presses up against Beth’s side and her hand instinctively runs through his hair. He looks tired but also… Sad.It makes her ache and she looks up only to see Rhea with one arm wrapped around her middle as she chews on the nails of her other hand. “What’s going on?”“He couldn’t sleep,” she begins, offering up a small smile. “We went for a drive and I found myself near here.”
Relationships: Beth Boland & Marcus, Beth Boland/Rhea
Comments: 7
Kudos: 38





	Soon

**Author's Note:**

> Set at a time where Rio still hasn’t come home yet and Dean isn’t living in the Boland house for this :)

It’s almost midnight and starting to storm outside which is exactly why Beth freezes in place when there’s a knock at the front door. The lights on that side of the house are all off and she could just ignore it but then the knocking continues. A moment later, her phone buzzes and she picks it up off the island counter to find a message from Rhea waiting for her.

_Are you home?_

She sets her phone down and hurries over to the door. When she opens it up, Rhea and Marcus are both walking back towards her car. The former pauses and looks back. She must say something because the next moment they’re both running back towards the house, Beth sidestepping to let them get inside as quickly as possible.

Luckily, the rain hasn’t gotten too heavy yet but it’s windy and the two of them are shivering slightly. Rhea takes off her coat and Beth helps Marcus to remove his then hangs both of them up while they remove their shoes. Almost immediately after they’re done, Marcus presses up against Beth’s side and her hand instinctively runs through his hair. He looks tired but also… _Sad._

It makes her ache and she looks up only to see Rhea with one arm wrapped around her middle as she chews on the nails of her other hand. “What’s going on?”

“He couldn’t sleep,” she begins, offering up a small smile. “We went for a drive and I found myself near here.”

“You’re both welcome to stay the night.”

“No, no, that’s not-”

“I insist,” Beth cuts in. “The weather’s only going to get worse and it’s so late. You might as well.”

Rhea sighs and tries to offer up a smile. “Only if it’s no trouble.”

“Would you like to sleep in Jane and Emma’s room?” Beth asks Marcus instead of answering. He looks up and nods a little. “Come on then.”

She brushes his hair back one more time before holding her hand out for him to take. He peels away from her side before he places his hand in hers. As they walk towards the stairs, Beth looks back to make sure Rhea is following them. She is but her eyes are downcast as they walk. It’s silent upstairs and there’s a soft glow from the small lights in the hallway that Beth leaves on at night for the kids and it only seems to grasp at her guilt as it bubbles up inside of her and intensifies the further they walk.

When they get to the girls’ rooms, Beth pauses outside. She glances down at Marcus who looks up at her. “Should we get you something dry to sleep in?”

“No.”

“Papi, they’re wet,” Rhea says softly. “You can’t sleep like that.”

Marcus grasps at the front of his t-shirt and says, angrily now, “ _no_.”

Rhea lets out a breath. “He normally wears them to his dad’s.”

At that, Beth crouches down and looks him over. The pyjamas are light grey with blue robots all over them and she can see that the rain hasn’t touched his top thanks to the coat he was wearing. “Why don’t you keep the top on and I’ll get you something to go with it?”

His bottom lip juts out as he looks down but eventually he nods. “Okay.” 

Beth waits for him to lift his head again and then she smiles, earning a small one in return. She stands up, opening the door to the girls’ room and letting Marcus go inside while she remains just outside the room with Rhea. The night light is enough to illuminate the space and she can immediately see that both girls have woken up. Jane is sat up in bed and Emma is looking over the side of the top bunk.

“Marcus!” Jane exclaims as she kicks off the covers and jumps out of bed. She hurries over and hugs him tightly. He still doesn’t look too great but he does hug her back.

Beth looks up at Emma. “Bubba, can you sleep down here with Jane so Marcus can have your bed?”

“We’re having a sleepover?” she asks, grinning.

“Kind of,” Beth tells them. “But it’s late so you all need to go to sleep. Marcus will be here tomorrow for breakfast, okay?” Both girls nod, although she’s sure none of them will be going to sleep right away. She turns to Marcus who’s still standing with Jane although they’re no longer hugging. “I’ll be right back so you can change.”

He nods slightly. “Okay”

Beth gives Rhea a small smile before heading down to Danny’s room. She’s able to creep in and move over to his chest of drawers without waking him up. Even in the darkness, it doesn’t take her long to locate the pair of cotton shorts that are almost the identical shade of blue as the robots on Marcus’ pyjamas.

By the time she comes back, Emma and Jane are both sitting on the bottom bunk and Marcus is standing by the ladder. He’s not saying much as they talk away but he is smiling, something genuine which feels like an improvement. Beth wanders into the room and hands the shorts over to him.

“You can just leave yours on top of the laundry basket, okay?”

Marcus nods. “Thank you, Mrs Boland.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” she says, smiling down at him before turning to the girls. “Right, remember what I said before, you all have to go to sleep.” She heads back over to the door. “No pancakes tomorrow otherwise.”

All three of them grin at each other and nod. Beth’s pretty sure they won’t fall asleep right away but at least there’s some incentive to try now. She turns to Rhea as Marcus begins to change. “I’m going to go downstairs, come down when you’re ready, okay?”

“I won’t be too long,” she assures.

“Drink?”

She smiles slowly. “Stronger the better.”

Beth brushes her shoulder against Rhea’s, offering a quiet “goodnight” to the kids before she heads towards the stairs.

* * *

It can’t be more than ten minutes later when Rhea comes downstairs. Beth is sitting in the living room having poured both of them a glass of bourbon. She’s been sipping on hers, not wanting to drink it all right away. With a huff, Rhea drops down into the space beside Beth and puts her head against the back of the couch.

“I’m sorry I just showed up like this.”

“Don’t be,” Beth says, picking up the other glass and pressing it into Rhea’s hand who takes it and lifts her head so she can drink. “Is everything okay?”

She downs her drink almost in one go and settles the glass down on the coffee table. “I don’t know what to do anymore. Marcus climbing into my bed I can handle but he just doesn’t understand why his dad won’t even call.” It’s like a vice clamping around Beth’s heart and she tries to speak but she can’t, the words dying before she can even open her mouth. “It’s not exactly new. He’s disappeared before but the last time he was gone this long, Marcus was young enough to forget about it.”

Beth downs her own drink and settles the glass down. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?” Rhea asks, wiping at her eyes. “It’s not your fault. It’s him and I’m sure he has an excuse and I know he’s not doing it deliberately but…” Her bottom lip wobbles a little right as she struggles to stop her tears. “I don’t know how to stop Marcus from hurting and I’m so exhausted.” Before Beth can do anything about it, Rhea is shuffling closer and then her head is on Beth’s shoulder. “I didn’t know what to do so when I realised where I was, I came here. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Beth says, holding her hand out and Rhea takes a hold of it, their fingers lacing together. “If being here helps…”

“It does. Your girls’ make him happy,” Rhea points out although it’s not really news. It’s hard not to notice the way the three of them instantly light up around one another. “And when you and I talk, I can just forget about it all.”

“Well…” She swallows around the lump in her throat. “I’m happy to help.”

Rhea yawns. “You’re too good to me.”

They fall into silence and the only sound, besides the rain which has gotten heavier now, is the voice screaming in Beth’s head. She can feel her chest tightening, the air being sucked out of her as she tries to focus on squashing down her guilt. It’s not a new feeling by any means. After _it_ had happened, when the adrenaline had worn off, her thoughts finally turned to them and it suddenly hit her, the one downside to pulling the trigger.

But now the guilt had gotten worse because Beth had overstepped a line. Now it wasn’t just about making sure they were okay. She treasured her friendship with Rhea and the closer they got, the more Beth’s head went to what she did that night and how badly it would all fall apart if the truth ever came out. A truth that was eating her up inside.

“I should have told you this before,” Beth says quietly. “I never meant for us to get so close. We were only meant to cross paths at the park or maybe some of the kids’ activities and clubs. And you have to understand that I didn’t plan what happened before and I didn’t think about you or Marcus when it did happen. If I had…” She takes a deep breath. “It was just so intense and I couldn’t think and then I just…” Another breath. “Rio’s gone and I want to be okay with it but it’s hard knowing that it means hurting you and Marcus.”

Silence. Only rain hitting against the window and the hammering of Beth’s heart.

She shifts enough to get a look at Rhea’s face and a sob bubbles up out of Beth as she puts her own face in her hands at the realisation that Rhea is fast asleep. She bites at the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying more, not wanting to wake her up.

Carefully, when she’s sure she can do it without much disruption, Beth gently takes a hold of Rhea and moves out of the way to let her lay down on the couch. For a moment, she stirs before burying her face in the cushion. Once she’s completely settled, Beth grabs the blanket to cover her before settling on the coffee table. She reaches out to gently brush Rhea’s hair back, knowing this isn’t a lucky escape.

She knows she’s going to say it all again. Only Rhea will be awake and Beth will have to be more specific and it’ll ruin everything. It won’t make it hurt any less. It won’t make the guilt go away. It won’t fix anything for Beth but it _might_ help Rhea and Marcus to find some sort of peace.

Tomorrow.

Or the day after.

_Soon_.


End file.
